The Third Pole

28/04/2026

Mumbai’s mangrove forests along the shore form the city’s natural flood shield and the backbone of its fishing communities.

Now, a 26 km coastal road project from Versova to Bhayandar threatens over 45,000 mangroves that protect the city from floods and support generations of Koli fishers.

Fishers say catches are already falling as construction begins, with access to traditional fishing grounds shrinking. For them, mangroves are also part of their culture and livelihoods.

While the project promises faster travel for the city, coastal communities, which will face reduced incomes, are asking a difficult and existential question: “whose dream project is it?”

🔗 Read the full story: https://loom.ly/i4zlovY

Mangroves implicated in a road project face removal or transplantation, raising ecological damage fears and threatening fishers’ way of life

24/04/2026

He waited hours in the heat to attend a political rally.
Minutes into the speech, he collapsed and later died.

Across India, elections are increasingly taking place in extreme temperatures. Campaigns are adapting, but many say the risks are still not being recognised as a public health issue.
Doctors report spikes in dehydration and heat stress at large gatherings. Some voters are avoiding rallies altogether.

As heatwaves intensify, what does this mean for elections and those taking part?

Read the full story: https://loom.ly/a8MsK2U

✒️ Priyanka Thirumurthy, Nigazh A.I.

Campaigning for votes when temperatures soar is dangerous, but many say India is in denial about the problem

23/04/2026

“My body feels like lead.”
In Karachi, extreme heat is making pregnancy increasingly dangerous — especially for women without access to cooling or reliable healthcare.
Temperatures above 40°C, high humidity and long power cuts mean many are left to cope in poorly ventilated homes, with limited relief.

Emerging evidence links heat exposure during pregnancy to risks including dehydration, infections and preterm birth.

On Baba Island, Mama Baby Fund runs the only clinic offering maternal and newborn care — providing a critical lifeline for women facing overlapping climate and health challenges.

As climate change intensifies, the gap between need and support is becoming harder to ignore.

Read more: https://loom.ly/UbnnKxw
✍️ Zuha Siddiqui

Rising temperatures are bringing worry and real risks to pregnant women, as nonprofits try their best to help

22/04/2026

For decades, communities in India’s Aravalli hills have depended on the land for their livelihoods.
But mining is changing that.
A new Dialogue Earth story looks at how both legal and illegal mining are affecting groundwater, agriculture and ecosystems across the two-billion-year-old mountain range.
“Our farms, livestock and water have been threatened. At what cost are we mining the hills?” says Kailash Meena, an environmental activist from Rajasthan.
A proposed redefinition of the Aravalli range has added to concerns, with critics warning it could leave large areas open to further mining.
At the same time, communities and activists are coming together to push for greater protection and a stronger role in decision-making.
Read more: https://loom.ly/jtBCyDA
✍️ Shalinee Kumari

The two-billion-year-old Aravalli Hills stand at the mercy of a contested verdict on their definition

20/04/2026

India is investing heavily in AI. But what does that mean for water?

Data centres, essential to AI systems, require enormous volumes of water for cooling. Many are being built in cities already facing shortages, including Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Researchers argue this raises deeper questions about inequality. In a country where millions still lack safe drinking water, decisions about where water goes are not just technical. They are political.

Who benefits from AI growth, and who bears the cost?

🔗 https://loom.ly/q5rKGbk

AI has epoch-making potential, but its data centres are being built on the thirst of those who already have the least, academics argue

17/04/2026

Heatwaves are arriving earlier and lasting longer in India, with cities increasingly exposed to extreme temperatures.

But the impacts are not equal. People living in informal settlements, or working in outdoor jobs, are among the most vulnerable, yet are often missing from official data used in urban planning.

Experts say current responses, including heat action plans, are improving but still fall short of addressing the realities faced by these communities.

As cities continue to grow, there are calls to rethink urban development, improve housing, expand green spaces, and better protect those most at risk.

✒️ Shalinee Kumari
Read more: https://loom.ly/eu_xcrc

Experts say more help for the marginalised is needed to stop urban development making things worse

16/04/2026

Extreme heat is making pregnancy more dangerous in Pakistan.
In cities like Karachi, high temperatures, power cuts and poorly ventilated homes mean many women struggle to stay cool. Researchers say pregnant women are especially vulnerable, but the lack of data means their risks are often overlooked in planning and policy.

Now, researchers are working to fill these gaps, while also testing low-cost solutions such as shading, improved airflow and reflective materials to help reduce heat exposure.

These approaches aim to work within the realities many communities face.

🔗 https://loom.ly/OjdldzY

✍️ Zuha Siddiqui

Amid rising heat, doctors and researchers are focussing on low-tech, inexpensive solutions to suit Pakistan’s context

01/04/2026

This "invisible disaster" is increasingly affecting how people live in Indian cities.

Urban populations are particularly exposed to extreme heat due to the urban heat island effect. This effect describes how cities are often warmer than the surrounding countryside due to fewer trees for shade and cooling, more energy use which produces waste heat, and a greater number of heat-absorbing concrete and brick buildings.

Most people in low-income settlements must rent, and have no ability to change the accommodation, which means the alteration to windows and installation of ventilation systems to improve thermal comfort is not possible.

🔗 Read the full story: https://loom.ly/gsCETM0
✍️ Zubair Shaikh, Shravya Garuda

City policies should stress practical outcomes and lower electricity bills rather than emission reductions, say Zubair Shaikh and Shravya Garuda

27/03/2026

As conflict in the Gulf intensifies, its impacts are being felt far beyond the region.

Across South Asia, governments are facing a difficult question: how to maintain energy security during geopolitical shocks while continuing climate action.

Read more: https://loom.ly/_wYdSQI
✍️ Kashmala Kakakhel

What happens when fuel security collides with climate ambition in South Asian countries like Pakistan? Climate finance expert Kashmala Kakakhel weighs in

25/03/2026

Even in war, Afghan farmers are still waiting for rain.

In eastern Afghanistan, decades of conflict and intensifying climate stress are converging in ways that are reshaping agriculture and livelihoods. Irrigation systems have fallen into disrepair, water management has stalled, and farmers are facing increasingly unpredictable conditions.

Nearly 10 million people were projected to be acutely food insecure in 2025, with drought playing a major role. Some farmers are shifting to less water-intensive crops. Others are leaving farming altogether.

“Low-water crops can survive scarcity, not extremity.”

This story looks at how conflict, climate change and water governance intersect — not only within Afghanistan, but across shared river systems with neighbouring countries.

Read more: https://loom.ly/J7ydYUQ
✍️ Fawad Ali

Afghanistan’s conflicts repeatedly hurt its farmers who endure droughts, floods and rising financial uncertainty

17/03/2026

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in Goa, India, protesting a planning provision known as Section 39A.

The rule allows green zones and no-development areas to be converted into “settlements” either by government direction or at the request of private parties.

Residents say the issue is not only about land use. Wetlands and surrounding hills act as recharge zones, allowing rainwater to seep into the ground and replenish lakes, wells and springs.

In North Goa, Toyyar Lake has sustained nearby villages for generations. A proposed tourism project in the hills above the lake triggered protests, with residents warning that construction could disrupt this natural water system.

After weeks of demonstrations, the project was relocated. But activists say concerns remain that similar developments could threaten recharge zones in the future.

Experts warn that if Goa’s recharge zones disappear, the state could face serious water shortages by 2051.

Video: Shalinee Kumari
📷 Lisann Dias and Arnav Poulekar
🎵 India by Nuclearmetal / Envato